


Unexpected Outcomes

by AshsHorrorShow



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Bad Flirting, Body Image, Celebrities, Dating, Eventual Smut, Family, First Dates, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Music, Romantic Comedy, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-03-13 09:13:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13567428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshsHorrorShow/pseuds/AshsHorrorShow
Summary: Hibiya gets (forcefully) invited to a concert by his brother, Psyche, and winds up getting a boyfriend. He supposed there could've been worst outcomes.





	1. Concert Night

“Everyone thinks you’re _so_ fucking sweet,” Hibiya hissed at his younger brother, Psyche, venom lacing his words, “If only they knew the real you.”

While his vitriolic glare and scathing words might’ve been enough to intimidate one of his misbehaving students in class, Psyche didn’t even blink. In fact, the bastard actually had the gall to smirk smugly, eyes half-lidded with content like a cat who got the canary. Shaking his head, Psyche said, “You can tell everyone your negative view of me and pull out all the receipts you have in your memory bank, but unfortunately, no one would believe you.”

Hibiya scowled and didn’t say anything, hating the fact that his younger brother was technically right. Many of his students were a big fan of the Psychedelic Dreams band and were always asking him questions in class. They already had the image of Psyche being this playful, cutesy type in their heads. Any criticism Hibiya had to offer was met with an absolute refusal to believe it and a bunch of his students insisting that he was merely jealous that he had not met as much success as Psyche. Unless he somehow managed to find the most damning evidence ever against Psyche, he probably wouldn’t be able to convince people that Psyche was actually an evil little genius.

Knowing that he wasn’t going to win this fight with his brother (which was how the story usually went. Hibiya had never been able to win back when they were kids ever, either, his parents always being suckered by Psyche’s childish charm), he instead decided to try and intimidate Psyche’s boyfriend, Tsugaru, who was passively watching the exchange on the other side of the trailer. He tried not to feel a twitch of satisfaction as he saw Tsugaru suddenly flinch at being the subject of such vehemence. Sneering, he said, “Aren’t you supposed to be the voice of reason? I figured peaceful, hippy types like you would be against very literal kidnapping, at the very least.” 

Tsugaru’s cerulean-blue eyes shyly shot to the floor, unable to hold Hibiya’s fiery gaze, and his cheeks lit up with a blush. He opened his mouth and then closed it, looking conflicted, as if he didn’t know exactly what to say. Hibiya was about to exploit this weakness, but fortunately for Tsugaru, Psyche seemed to sense this as he immediately came to his boyfriend’s defense. 

Sashaying over to Tsugaru, Psyche draped his arms across Tsugaru and rested his chin on the junction of the blond’s shoulder, purring, “Well, even Tsugaru agreed with me that you needed to get out more. And Hibiya-san, how many times do I gotta teach you? You can convince even the most pacifistic people to do the craziest of things with just a little bit of persuasion~!” 

The last word of that sentence was said with such coy pleasure that Hibiya had to look away in utter disgust, especially when he saw Psyche’s deft little fingers toying with Tsugaru’s kimono, the blond batting him away. Honestly, Psyche was shameless. 

“Alright, alright. You already kidnapped me. Don’t make the judge add more time to your sentence by fucking in front of me like animals,” Hibiya scowled. 

Tsugaru’s blushed even harder at the comment, but Psyche simply pouted, “We wouldn’t fuck in the trailer. At least… not with you around. We aren’t Delic…”

“Psyche, stop,” Tsugaru pleaded, his face matching the color of a tomato at this point.

“What? Teasing you or making you think about what Delic is no doubt doing in his own trailer with that girl?” Psyche asked, cocking his head. 

“Both.” 

“Fine, boring,” Psyche said, rolling his eyes. Then turning to Hibiya, he said, “Honestly, Hibiya, quit being melodramatic. Tsugaru and I didn’t kidnap you.”

“Oh?” Hibiya said, bristling, “Then what do you call breaking into my house and having Tsugaru literally carry me kicking and screaming out of my apartment, against my will, mind you, and throwing me in the back of the trailer and driving off?”

Psyche smiled innocently and tentatively said, “Forceful persuasion?”

“I am literally considering calling the police on you two,” Hibiya growled.

Psyche kept the smile, though it did have a twinge of evil in it now, “But you won’t.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because Mom and the majority of your students will riot and make you regret doing so,” Psyche chirped, smirking now and crossing his arms in an infuriatingly smug manner. 

Hibiya hated to admit it, but again, Psyche was right. Their mother had always held a strange affinity for Psyche. She could never stay mad at him for very long. Hibiya was pretty sure that Psyche could’ve slaughtered and skinned a cat right in front of her and so long as he looked sad or something, she would forgive him. A lot of people tended to be that way around Psyche. Staying mad at Psyche to most people seemed to be like trying to stay mad at a dog. One could only stay mad so long before they went back to hugging and forgiving them. The only one who seemed to be able to not fall for Psyche’s ploy was Hibiya. But that wouldn’t help him when his mother came after his hide for getting his own kin arrested. 

Even if he managed to somehow survive the onslaught his mother released down upon him, that wouldn’t save him from his own students. Psychedelic Dreams was huge amongst his students, and if word got out that he got one of the stars arrested, he highly doubted that he would be able to get through the day without his head ending up on a pike. He shivered at the brutal thought.

So huffing, he growled, “I hate when you’re right, Psyche.”

Psyche smiled triumphantly, “Which is all the time.”

“Don’t push your luck.”

Psyche patted Hibiya’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, Hibiya-nii. I know you’re mad at me now, but you’ll be thanking me when you are at the concert. It’s not healthy to keep yourself cooped up and focus on work literally all day.”

“You act like I’m Hachimenroppi,” Hibiya grumbled. Part of him felt bad for selling his acquaintance down the river, especially behind his back, but it was indeed true that Hachimenroppi was a hermit. The fact that Hibiya managed to become friends with the man shocked him quite a bit, seeing as the other seemed to have an intense, misanthropic view of the human race and Hibiya was borderline questioning if the other had agoraphobia, or at the very least some social anxiety that made him so reluctant to leave the house ever.

Personally, Hibiya didn’t feel like he was that bad. He did go out every now and then to go and eat a nice meal at one of the restaurants at the city and once a month, he found himself travelling to the bookstore to find something new to pour over when he was at home. Sure, it wasn’t the extremely extroverted life that Psyche boasted on his social networks, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. He also thought Psyche’s accusations could be somewhat unfair, because, unlike Hachimenroppi, he didn’t have much of a choice to be somewhat of a recluse. When one was lucky enough to become a History professor to one of the prestigious colleges in all of Japan, one had to basically kiss their social life goodbye. No more parties, no more heavy drinking, no more going to that many fun events. All of that was to be flushed down the drain. Because when you were a teacher, you had to keep up appearances, damn it! You had to be the “good example,” the “moral compass,” to the impressionable young minds that wandered into his classroom. 

Not that him being a good example, really mattered. By the end of the day, kids were going to be kids and if they wanted to throw a party, a party was going to be thrown. His good influence wasn’t going to stop that. It was just going to make them view him as one of those boring, academic types. Some of his fellow teachers had tried to make the heads see this logic in an attempt to get lighter social restrictions, but they might as well have been talking to a wall. 

Hibiya didn’t particularly mind the restrictions in the first place. He had never been much of a party person. Alcohol made him sick after just a few sips and loud music gave him a pounding headache. All of the trash that got thrown to the ground or discarded around the place, made him twitchy and want to run back to his own apartment and clean it thoroughly for reprieve. Besides, despite being a teacher, he wasn’t much of a people person. So when sweat-slicked people who were drunk out of their minds tried to get him to talk/dance, or even worse, tried to get him to sleep with them, he had to resist the uncontrollable urge to find a spaceship and ship himself off to another planet, away from humanity, to get over that experience.

As far as he saw it, parties were just an excuse for people to get drunk and act stupid and have the party as a flimsy excuse of why they shouldn’t pay any consequences. Personally, Hibiya didn’t like looking like a fool. He would much rather just curl up in his apartment, grade papers, read a book, and keep his social life minimal. He liked the regimen. It was peaceful. It was familiar.

Unfortunately, Psyche didn’t seem to get this and was constantly trying to make it a requirement that Hibiya go to some big social event every two months or so. Hibiya tried to resist, but Psyche could be incredibly persistent and convincing. And if Psyche’s charms failed to work, Hibiya just now learned that the little brat was not afraid to use his boyfriend’s muscles against him. How did Tsugaru even have that strength? Every time he saw them man, he was either passively sitting and smoking on his pipe, or doting over Psyche. The man should not be able to carry him away like he was nothing more than a piece of paper. 

And Psyche should not have the charm to sweet talk the secretary at his apartment to allow them do it. What the hell?

Whatever. The fact of the matter, he was here now and he was being dragged to Psyche and his singing partner, Delic’s concert. If there was one positive thing about this all, it was that Delic had decided to ride in a seperate trailer. If Hibiya had to deal with Psyche’s incredibly perverted and lewd bandmate at the moment, he would actually go insane. He never understood how Delic and Psyche came to be friends, much less form a band in high school, but now that he thought about it a little, it made sense. 

Both were incredibly annoying and seemed to get away with murder.

Looking at Psyche, he said, “Please, at the very least tell me that this isn’t a themed concert.”

“It’s a themed concert,” Psyche said immediately. Hibiya resisted the urge to groan like a little kid. He failed. 

“I am not dressing up like a kid on Halloween!” Hibiya snapped at his brother.

Now it was Psyche’s turn to pout, “Hibiya-nii! You’ll ruin the fun if you don’t dress up! Besides, not dressing up means you will stick out like a sore thumb!” 

“I will live with that. I think the crowd will be paying more attention to you and Delic than me,” Hibiya shot back.

He had expected Psyche to shoot back another comeback, but surprisingly it was Tsugaru this time. Usually the other man liked to keep quiet and not get involved with their squabbles, but this time, he interjected by pointing out, “Not if one of those people is one of your students.”

Hibiya blanched as Psyche grinned at Tsugaru, saying, “Oh that’s right. If one of your students sees you out of costume, they might recognize you and take a picture!”

And Hibiya knew the story from there. Then said student, in a quest to get Likes or Comments, would post said picture of him and then it would get spread all until the college found it. Then Hibiya would be kicked out of the job he worked his ass off to get, and that would just be no good. 

Growling in defeat, Hibiya crossed his arm and said, “Fine, you win. But I don’t have a costume. Should we stop at a store and-”

“Actually, I already kind of got you a costume,” Psyche chirped, darting over to the other end of the trailer and pulling out a grocery bag with a costume.

Hibiya groaned again. Knowing Psyche, he was going to hate this. But he didn’t exactly have any other option. So snatching the bag out of Psyche’s hands, he rummaged through it, hoping whatever the costume was, it wasn’t totally bad. 

* * *

It was pretty awful.

Hibiya was actually beginning to become concerned that his twin brother was a sadistic villain of some kind. That was the only explanation he could come up with on why Psyche could be this horrible to him, to feed off his embarrassment like some sort of mosquito. 

The only measly shred of credit he could give the outfit was that it wasn’t flashy as he thought it would be. Psyche and Delic, despite their plain white suits (with pink accents) being their trademark outfits, the two of them could be quite flashy. He could compare some of their past suits and outfits of looking like a parrot exploded on them, or like they got neon paint dumped on them. They were not afraid of being eyesores and they loved it when their crowds did the same. 

However, what Hibiya’s outfit failed in being flashy, it succeeded in being tacky and ugly. 

Hibiya gazed at himself, dead-eyed, in the mirror of the bathroom. He was supposed to be a prince, according to the bag’s label, but he didn’t know what self-respecting prince would walk out in this kind of attire. The outfit consisted of a mustard-yellow cloak, a bright white undershirt undershirt that was way too big for him, black tights, and white boots and gloves to help add to it all. On top of his head was a cheap plastic crown. Hibiya actually had to say, he was glad that the crown was there, otherwise he was pretty sure everyone would mistake him for a weird superhero rather than a prince.

Needless to say, he felt utterly ridiculous.

The worst part was, he still felt recognizable under the costume, but Psyche had insisted that with the darkness of place and the fact his students wouldn’t even expect him to be in a location, no one would notice it was him under the disguise.

“You look amazing, Hibiya-ouji!” Psyche chirped next to him, adorned in a pair of ridiculous white bunny ears. He even had a tail with it, and a white top hat with a fuschia stripe running horizontally across the middle. Hibiya winced at the ‘ouji’ at the end of his name.

Glaring at his brother, he hissed, “Thanks. You look like you came straight out of a BL porn magazine with those rabbit ears.”

Psyche’s face lit up. Touching his chest where his heart was, he said, “Thank you. That means I am going to be a big hit with the fans tonight and it means I am star material!” 

Hibiya had to admit, he admired the way his brother could seemingly not be bothered by any insult. Shaking his head, he said, “If you’re going that route, I don’t even want to imagine how slutty Delic is going to be for this concert.”

He hadn’t seen the blond since they arrived and for that he was grateful. While he agreed with the majority of the press that Delic was incredibly-handsome and good-looking, Hibiya had talked to the man enough to know that he was incredibly obnoxious. Probably more obnoxious than Psyche. Psyche at least had a charm to him that made you forgive and forget pretty easily, which was probably why Hibiya hadn’t strangled him to death yet. Delic on the other hand, was unbearable and perverted as hell. It didn’t matter if it was a guy or a girl, if you were attractive, he would try to flirt and bed a person. Hibiya thought men with those kinds of libidos only existed in Greek mythology, but apparently, Delic proved that theory wrong.

Psyche sighed and said, “I just hope he is actually getting in costume right now. Some girl flirted with him on the way in and he tailed after her. Haven’t seen him since.”

Hibiya sighed, shaking his head at the man’s shamelessness, before changing the subject to Psyche, the two of them chattering as they preened in front of the mirror, waiting for the show to start. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about Delic hitting on him this time around. 

This outfit would kill even the most dedicated man’s boner, he was pretty sure.

* * *

An hour or so had passed and Hibiya had to admit, the experience wasn’t as horrible as he thought it was going to be. Not that he had doubted Psyche and Delic’s musical abilities. Annoying as those two were, he had never denied they were both talented musicians. They had charisma, good vocals, and picked good bandmates to make sure their music had an unique vibe to it. 

But concerts usually had a lot of annoyances to them. Catcallers, hecklers, drunk people, litter, the smell of marijuana, beer, and sweat in the air, etc. But overall, he had been able to get through it all and actually enjoy himself. If one could ignore the rather obnoxious audiences they had, their concerts were always fun. The two of them worked great on stage. Not only could they perform, but they could make the audience laugh, get them excited just by simply shedding an article of clothing like their coats off, and more. Psyche would often lean down and high five people. The two were a lot of fun and very dynamic. By the time the show was over, and the two of them bowed down, Hibiya found even himself clapping. 

Once the crowd began filing out, and Hibiya and Psyche and Tsugaru were finally back in the trailer, Hibiya congratulated his brother (who preened at the praise) and then had taken a sigh of relief, saying that he’d at least be home before 3 a.m. so he could take off this stupid costume.

He felt his heart clench with terror at the confused look Tsugaru and Psyche threw his way. Struggling to take off one of the boots, he said, “What?”

“You gotta go to have the afterparty, with us, silly!” Psyche said, voice still strong despite how hard he had worked on stage. Honestly, how the guy had the energy he did, Hibiya didn’t understand.

Hibiya froze. Afterparty? 

“Who said anything about me going to an afterparty?” Hibiya snapped, glaring at Psyche who raised his hands up.

“Hibiya~! After parties are custom for shows this big and they usually don’t last long. Come on!”

“No, you are going to take me home right this moment or I swear to you I will make you regret it,” Hibiya threatened. What exactly he would do he wasn’t actually sure about, but he made sure to add enough vitriol to his words to make it sound serious.

Psyche looked at him for a moment, before looking thoughtful. After a few heartbeats, he said, “You stay at the afterparty with Tsugaru, Delic, and I for an hour and I swear I will buy you ten books from that boring book shop you like so much.”

Hibiya actually paused. That was quite a number of books and buying fresh books wasn’t exactly cheap anymore… and he did need some new novels and history books to read.

Glaring at Psyche, he sighed and said, “Fine. Deal.”

And that was how Hibiya ended up getting dragged to the afterparty.

* * *

Now Hibiya could say he was suffering.  
He was tired, he was stuck in a party with people he hardly knew or cared about, he was still stuck in this damn uncomfortable costume, and most of all he was bored. He had no one to talk to, he didn’t like drinking, and he never watched sports so he didn’t know what was going on on any of the television sets. All he wanted to do was go back home and curl up and sleep away all of these memories. The very least if Psyche was planning to take him to a party, he could’ve brought some of the essays Hibiya needed to grade so he could have something to do. 

He had trailed after Psyche for a while, but Psyche seemed determined to make him best friends forever with people, which was awkward and annoying, and Psyche was beginning to turn to alcohol, which meant that Psyche would go from being annoying to absolutely obnoxious after a few drinks. He wanted to avoid that as much as humanly possible.

So, he sighed and just decided to think about what books he would get Psyche to buy him when suddenly he felt warm breath hitting the back of his neck and hands grab his sides. 

“You here by yourself?” a husky voice asked. 

Hibiya, caught off-guard, jerked upwards and nearly fell backwards. Thankfully, whoever was behind him caught him, and he soon was pressed slightly in the other man’s chest, who was chuckling a little, saying, “Easy now.”

Hibiya would’ve been a lot more embarrassed and apologizing profusely if this had been a random stranger (even if said random stranger should not be pulling stunts like that), but he recognized that voice, and immediately annoyance filled him up.

Pulling away so he could be righted back in his seat, he growled, “What the hell is wrong with you, Delic? Go away!”

Delic though raised his hands up innocently and said, “Hey, hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to catch you off-guard so bad. I just saw you sitting here by yourself and felt bad.”

Hibiya was about to growl that he knew for a fact that wasn’t ALL Delic wanted, when suddenly the blond man said, “By the way, you dropped something?”

Curious about what it could be, he turned around and saw Delic handing him back the plastic crown. It must have fallen off when he had jumped and nearly fell backwards. Glaring at the offending object, he looked away and said, “Keep it, I didn’t want it anyhow.”

Delic almost seemed to understand. Throwing Hibiya a sympathetic look, he asked, “Did Psyche get you to wear it?”

Hibiya’s face must have answered him because Delic let out a small chuckle and shook his head saying, “Psyche can be pretty evil sometimes. I am still not sure how you managed to survive, you being his brother and all.”

“Mm,” Hibiya replied noncommittally, trying to will Delic away. Delic being nearby would only invite trouble. Unfortunately for him though, Delic didn’t seem want to move. 

Taking the seat next to Hibiya, he gestured to the bar and asked, “Would you like me to get you a drink at the very least?”

Oh god, here they go…

“No, thank you. I… I don’t drink anyway,” Hibiya said, feeling somewhat embarrassed to admit that in front of the other man. After all, even Psyche, a total lightweight, could stand the taste of alcohol… 

Delic shrugged and said, “That’s fine, I am sure they have other drinks here-”

“I said, no thank you,” Hibiya said, more firmly. Glaring at Delic, he said, “Don’t you have any other interested parties to flirt with? How many times are you going to try with me?”

He flashbacked to all the times Delic had attempted to flirt with him in the past. It had never worked, Hibiya either being too clever to fall for such tricks or Psyche would come swooping in and save him. Delic would always back off, but every time they met up, it seemed Delic would try again. Why? Why did Delic persist with him so much? 

He used to think the other man was just trying to tease him. He’d known him since high school after all and he obviously knew how, romantically and sexually uninclined Hibiya was. It would make sense that he might just be teasing. While Psyche might be annoying, Delic was an ass. 

However, Delic seemed awfully serious and shameless about it. He had even once gave Hibiya a set of chocolates with one of his proposals. And while the chocolate wasn’t some expensive Swiss brand or anything, he had still spent money just to make what was supposedly a stupid joke. 

Delic shrugged, “I dunno, maybe I like you or something, Hibiya-san.”

“Quit messing around,” Hibiya snapped, feeling a flush rise to his cheeks despite himself. He didn’t like the shameless way, Delic said that and he couldn’t help but feel like he was being mocked.

Delic smiled like a cat and leaned forward so that his chin was resting on Hibiya’s shoulder, the other man’s breath hitting his neck once again as he purred, “Maybe I think your cute~!” 

Hibiya had no mercy in shoving Delic’s face away, saying, “Stop. Stop! Forget I asked. I should’ve known I wouldn’t get a serious answer out of you.”

Delic blinked and said, “Who said I wasn’t serious?”

Hibiya looked away from him and just said, “Because you have no reason to like me or want me. Is it just because you can’t stand rejection?”

“No. And I don’t think that is necessarily true, I’ve known you since high school. Kind of used to think you were a nerd then, but…” Delic teased lightly. Hibiya didn’t laugh. 

He decided to just play silent, hoping Delic would just accept that he didn’t want to talk and move on. He regretted ever complaining that he was bored. Being with Delic was worse. However, Delic didn’t move. Instead, he just stared at Hibiya, studying his face. It was actually making Hibiya somewhat uncomfortable, how long Delic was holding his stare, causing him to fidget. 

Right when he was about to snap and ask Delic what he was still doing there, he felt Delic suddenly put the crown back on his head. 

“What are you doing? Are you trying to annoy me?” Hibiya growled, reaching up to grab the thing off of his head. “I don’t want it. It’s stupid.”

Delic stopped his hand, letting go immediately when he felt Hibiya tense, and said, “I disagree. I think you can pull it off. If that crown were made of different material, I am pretty sure anyone would think you were royalty. You look pretty damn regal.” He practically purred the last part. 

Hibiya shook his head and said, “It’s official. You’re mocking me.”

“Am not. If I was mocking you, would I do this?” Then he quickly pressed a kiss to Hibiya’s lips. It didn’t even last more than a second, it was more a peck than anything, but Hibiya had to resist the urge to scream, horror crossing his features.

Hissing under his breath, he seethed, “You are such an idiot! Why did you do that?! What if someone saw?!” He glanced around the bar, fearing someone definitely saw and he would be on the headlines tomorrow and he would definitely get fired. Luckily he couldn’t see anyone showing any obvious signs they saw. 

He practically breathed with relief. 

To be fair, Delic actually looked somewhat apologetic, like a dog who got scolded. Quickly he said, “I am sorry, I didn’t think it would upset you that much.” 

Hibiya for some reason, couldn’t stay too mad at the idiot. Maybe it was because he was getting some of that late night madness. Still keeping his voice tight though, he said, “You can’t just do that willy-nilly in public, Delic. I can’t risk losing my job.”

“So you’re saying you’d do it if we were somewhere more private?” Delic said, grinning wolfishly, eyes half-lidded.

Okay, he was mad again. 

“Shut. It.” Hibiya growled. Delic once again, retreated a little, looking somewhat frazzled.

“Still got that infamous temper, I see,” Delic mumbled.

“You just kissed me without permission in public and then had the gall to be shameless still,” Hibiya snapped.

Delic looked at him and said, “Why are you so afraid of letting go and enjoying yourself anyway? Not just with me. You just always seemed against the idea of sex in general. You asexual?”

Hibiya shook his head and blushed, saying, “No… I have lewd thoughts. It’s just… I don’t know. I want it to be mean something. You just use people and leave.” Hibiya said the last part bitterly with a glare, “I don’t want to be used.” 

Delic seemed thoughtful about this for a moment. Hibiya thought he might have said something a little too mean at that point, but it was true. Delic probably didn’t even know how to define the word commitment. 

He honestly had dreamed about the other man before, especially back when he had been an hormonal, lonely teenager back in high school. The man was funny and handsome and charming at times… but he knew, even back then, dating Delic would probably only lead to heartbreak. 

“So you’re saying that if I took you out on a couple of dates, didn’t do it with anyone else, and all of that stuff, you’d be willing to give me a try?” Delic said, actually looking hopeful. 

Hibiya actually raised an eyebrow, “You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” Delic said, sounding and looking awfully serious.

“I think you would actually wither away and die trying to be in a committed, romantic relationship,” Hibiya said. 

“Can’t know until I try, right? Besides, I am willing to try for you.” Delic said, giving him a wink.

Hibiya glared, but the blush forming on his cheeks probably ruined the effect. He could see why Delic charmed so many people. The man had quite a way about him.

He thought about it for a moment, his hand anxiously fiddling with each other, before finally, he said, “Fine. I will try this out with you.” At Delic’s hopeful look, he quickly added, “Under three conditions.”

“Let’s hear them!” Delic said, still with a dopily happy look on his face.

“One: you got to take me out on three consecutive dates before I even consider sleeping with you,” Hibiya said, making sure that his tone was authoritative, like he did with students when he told them the deadline of an essay and emphasized he would accept NO late submissions.

“Got it,” Delic nodded.

“Two: If Psyche or Tsugaru see you flirting around or being with anyone else, this agreement is immediately over. And if you dare try to flirt with me after that point, I will not hesitate trying to castrate you with a pair of scissors.” 

Delic winced, but nodded and said, “A little morbid at the end there, but alright.”

Hibiya nodded and finally said, “Three: Please go slightly under the radar. I don’t want any paparazzi at my house.”

Delic grinned, “Easy, trust me, I am an expert at going under the radar with this kind of thing.” When Hibiya gave him an unimpressed look, he apologetically scratched the back of his head and said, “Ah… I used to anyway.” Then, smiling, he held out his hand, and said, “You and me have got a deal, Hibiya-san?”

Hibiya hesitated for a moment, once again staring at the man’s face to judge if he was being honest and this wasn’t all one big prank before he slowly shook the other man’s hand back. All the while wondering what the hell he just got himself into.


	2. Make This Work (First Date)

“WHAT?!” Psyche practically screeched, his fuschia eyes wide as saucer plates. The absolutely floored expression on his face would’ve been humorous, had the situation not been so awkward. “You and Delili are dating?!” 

Even Tsugaru, who seemed to pride himself on looking controlled looked shocked.

“Yes, that is what I said, wasn’t it?” Hibiya snapped impatiently, desperately hoping he wasn’t blushing. This was so embarrassing and awkward. A part of him had honestly considered not telling Psyche or Tsugaru about his arrangements with Delic at all, but he figured Psyche would find out eventually by other means, and to be perfectly honest, he would rather Psyche find things out from him rather than any exaggerated story Delic (or possibly the press if Delic failed keeping them at bay) cooked up. 

Besides, he knew Psyche would be slightly hurt if he withheld such important information, so it was best to just get this over with. It was like ripping off a bandaid. It might not be entirely pleasant, but it’d be done and over with before he knew it and he would feel better afterwards.

He expected Psyche to make some melodramatic comment, but he was surprised when Psyche just continued looking dazed and it was Tsugaru who interjected, “Are you want to go along with this, Hibiya-san? Don’t get me wrong, Delic is my friend and I like him, but he has not exactly been tactful about any of his past relationships. And trust me, Psyche and I have seen some of the fallout from some embittered past lovers.”

Psyche’s face flickered with interest, “Are you referring to that one girl who thought you were Delic and tried to stab you with a fork?”

Tsugaru looked uncomfortable at the mere mention of the story, fidgeting with the end of his kimono as he relented to the other, “She’d been one of them certainly but-”

Hibiya tuned the rest out, wincing. He, of course, knew Delic had commitment issues. He had even brought that up when Delic had proposed the idea. But Delic had sounded so serious when he’d said he wanted to try things out for real. To try a relationship out. Part of him desperately wanted to defend both himself and Delic by vocalizing this, but his tongue traitorously refused to work.

Because what if Delic had said the same to Crazy Fork Girl? What if he had gotten others with similar lines? Hibiya felt his stomach clench at the idea that he might have just fallen for a ploy, hook, line, and sinker. 

If Delic was just tricking him into giving away his body, he didn’t think he’d be mad enough to try and stab him (or anyone resembling him) with a fork, but he’d still be incredibly hurt and pissed. 

Psyche, seeming to see his troubled look, piped up and said, “Nah, to be fair, I think this situation is different than Delic’s usual escapades.”

Both Hibiya and Tsugaru pricked with interest. 

“How so?” Tsugaru asked, clearly curious. Hibiya was just as curious, a part of him desperate. ‘ _Yes, please give me any reason to think I didn’t just sign myself up to be a sexual plaything._ ’ he thought, hoping his anxiety and fear didn’t show up on his face.

“Well I mean, Delic’s had a crush on Hibiya-nii since high school,” Psyche explained airily, asd if he was just talking about the most casual subject on earth. Hibiya, however, nearly shot to his feet in surprise.

“Wait… he was telling the truth when he said that?!” Hibiya practically yelped. He was a bit embarrassed at how loud and shocked that came out, but he had to know.

Psyche blinked at him, clearly caught off-guard by the reaction, before he nodded.

The realization sent Hibiya’s emotions haywire, his mind still trying to make sense of the information. He knew Delic had told him that, but part of him had just assumed the blond was just trying to butter him up. After all, what reason would Delic have to like him? Especially back in high school? Not that Hibiya considered himself hideously ugly or ridiculously cruel back then, but it was a matter of simple perspective. 

Delic, even back then, had been ridiculously popular. He could’ve had his pick of anyone he wanted. Beauty queens, jocks, goths, nerds, people who were prettier and nicer and overall just better than Hibiya in a lot of ways. Sure, Hibiya was top of his class when it came to intellect, but he doubted Delic cared too much about someone’s education.

But then again, why was he trying to find logic with Delic? He knew it was impossible. Delic was one of the strangest men he’d ever met, maybe tied up there with his brother. Trying to figure out why he did anything was a hassle. So, to save himself the headache, he would put Delic inexplicably liking him into the ‘he would probably never understand’ category of his brain, and instead decided to be happy about the news. It, at the very least, made him feel a little less anxious about being used.

But suddenly, he realized something.

Bristling, he turned to Psyche and snapped. “You knew about this since HIGH SCHOOL and didn’t think to tell me why exactly?”

Psyche met his gaze unflinchingly and said, “I didn’t think he was being serious.”

Hibiya must have looked offended as Psyche rolled his eyes and said, “I didn’t mean it like _that_ , Prince Sensitive. I meant that it’s sometimes hard to tell when Delic is joking or not. Delic has a bad habit of saying whatever gets him a reaction, so it is hard to tell when he is joking and when he is not. Like, remember how Delic _jokingly_ told that one reporter that we had a secret relationship on the side and that was all the magazines read into for months.”

Hibiya bit his lip. He did know about that one, as Psyche called him incessantly during that time, ranting to him on the phone about how much of an idiot Delic was. 

“I certainly do,” Tsugaru growled, actually looking somewhat annoyed and angry. Tsugaru was a pretty mellow guy, so to see him irritated at anything was jarring.

Psyche sighed and shook his head exasperatedly, “Every move we made was somehow romantic. I could buy corn or something and people would be speculating if I was buying it for Delic because three years ago they found a picture of Delic eating corn. It was ridiculous! Though the fanfiction could be funny and some of the fan art was cute. Come on! Even you got to admit that, Tsugaru!” 

When Tsugaru just threw an unimpressed look back, Psyche sighed and just continued on. “Wasn’t until Tsugaru finally allowed me to post pictures on social media of us did people realize that, yes, Delic and I were not together, and it is only now I can finally say the controversy has pretty much ended.”

“Except for the people who think I’m a weird cover up or part of some elusive threesome with you and Delic,” Tsugaru grumbled. 

Psyche shrugged, “Oh well, you can’t convince everyone. Overall, I think I won overall. I get to post pictures of Tsugaru and I now!” He said the last part so happily and giddily that Hibiya couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He knew that was somewhat of a big deal to Psyche. He didn’t check social media too much, but whenever he did, he was sure to scroll through twenty pics of just Tsugaru and Psyche.

But he was getting off-topic…

“How does this scandal relate to you keeping Delic’s liking to me a secret?” Hibiya drawled.

Seeming to remember what he was supposed to actually being talking about, Psyche snapped his fingers and said, “Oh right! Sorry. Basically though, when Delic first told me that he liked you, I thought he was just trying to get under my skin. Thought it was sort of his own version of a ‘your mom’ joke, which he also liked to do. Imagine just hearing him suddenly saying…” Deepening his voice and making it sound exaggeratingly dumb, he mocked, “Hey, Psyche-san… what would you say if I started dating your brother?”

Hibiya had to admit, had Delic asked him something like that about Psyche, he probably would’ve assumed Delic was trying to get under his skin as well. Delic did have a bad habit of never being serious, even when the situation sometimes called for it and immature humor did seem to be his gig. 

Psyche continued, “And I’d be like, ‘Haha, real funny, Delic’ or whatever, but I don’t know… he kept pushing and he didn’t frame it the same way as he did his usual jokes. Even he gave up on your mom jokes at a certain age… but with you, he was a little bit more persistent. He would even insist he wasn’t joking and ask all of these recommendations or ask if you were interested or whatever. That was probably by junior or senior year or whatever. Can’t really remember.

“But by the time I was starting to catch on that, no, he was pretty serious, I simply thought that you were not interested. I mean, he doesn’t seem to be your type. But then again, who is?” Psyche snuffed a laugh at the last sentence, causing Hibiya to roll his eyes. 

“You have no right to decide who is or isn’t my type,” Hibiya said curtly. 

“Well, I mean, you’ve said no to him how many time now beforehand?” Psyche questioned. 

“Well, er-”

“Exactly.”

Hibiya huffed and crossed his arms, knowing he had been defeated. Psyche smirked proudly. 

“So you’re really just relying on the fact that Delic actually had a consistent crush for once to be the end all, be all?” Tsugaru asked Psyche skeptically.

Psyche shook his head. “No, because there is another reason this will be different.”

“And why is that?”

“Cause he knows Hibiya is my brother and if he hurts him really bad, then I will personally disembowel him,” Psyche said, small smile never leaving his face as he said this. It was kind of scary really, but Hibiya felt a twinge of loyalty to his brother. Despite how much Psyche got on his nerves, he would always have Psyche’s back should the need arise, and he had no doubt in his mind Psyche would do the same thing for him, as was evident here.

But beneath all this happiness, he also felt a twinge of worry. He had never thought about what he and Delic’s relationship could mean for the band. Say, he and Delic didn’t work out? It didn’t even have to be a messy break up. Say they just didn’t see a relationship of any substantial form coming to be between the two of them and they broke it off… would Psyche still want to hang around Delic? Would things be too awkward? Would Psyche not invite him to other events in the fear that seeing Delic would set him off. 

He didn’t want to inconvenience anyone. Perhaps what he was doing was a mistake.

‘ _Relax_ ,” he told himself mentally, “ _You haven’t even gone on a first date with Delic yet. You have no idea on whether or not it will end up good or bad. So why work yourself up and set yourself up for failure now? Psyche and Delic are both mature- er… well somewhat mature adults who can see nuance in things. Not all break ups end up with one of the partners being Crazy Fork Lady._ ’

He took a deep breath and tried to relax. So distracted had he been in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed Psyche had said something to him until Psyche shouted, “Earth to Hibiya-nii! Your brother is speaking. Stop thinking about Delic’s abs for a moment to listen-”

“What do you want?” Hibiya snapped, interrupting before Psyche could finish. 

“I was saying that the only stipulation I have of you dating my best friend is that you have to at the very least update me on the phone after every date,” Psyche said, smiling lightly.

Hibiya blinked, before saying, “What are we? Teenage girls sharing gossip?”

Psyche once again, seemed to brush the insult off. He simply shrugged and said, “What can I say? I am nosy. Besides, this I am excited! It’s been awhile since you’ve been involved with anyone romantically! Come on, Hibiya-nii! It’s only fair.” He said the last part with clasped hands, as if he were begging. 

Hibiya relented, dramatically sighing out a long, drawn out, “Fine…”

To be honest, he did somewhat like the prospect. Sure, Psyche could be somewhat chatty on the phone and he would no doubt try to squeeze every last drop out of gossip he could get out of Hibiya about the date, he did like the idea of being able to talk to someone about it. Someone who’d know if he was making a mistake or who could give him advice. And Psyche, quite frankly, fit the bill quite nicely.

Psyche clapped his hands excitedly and said, “Yay! I knew you would see reason! Also, I think your apartment building is coming up!”

Hibiya glanced outside and nearly sagged with relief to see buildings he recognized. He was going to leap into bed when he got home…

Psyche came over, arms open for a hug and began his farewells, “Well I guess this is-”

“Hold on,” Hibiya said, pausing him. He dug his hands in his pockets and fished out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Psyche, “Here are the books I want. I expect them by Tuesday.”

Psyche pocketed the list with a grimace, saying, “Ugh, this is what I get for thinking you’d show mercy.” 

* * *

The moment he had gotten back home, Hibiya had practically collapsed into the bed. He hadn’t even taken off any of his clothes, too exhausted to do that. Normally, he would find such a lazy act disgusting in a way, but he was somewhat glad to see the prince outfit in the morning. It confirmed that all that had occurred last night hadn’t been some weird dream his mind had concocted. It was real.

He was going to officially date the pop sensation, Delic. 

Nope, that statement still wasn’t computing or making any sort of sense in his mind. He didn't think it ever would. Was this how Tsugaru felt when he had began dating Psyche? 

Speaking of Delic, he was going to have to set that up himself. Before he had left the bar, Delic had slid him his cell phone and told him to simply message him when he thought he could set up a date. He figured he might as well do it now, while it was still on his mind. So, grabbing his phone off of the night stand, and thanking the deities up above it still had battery life, he considered what he was going to send to Delic. 

He didn’t want to sound too eager, but he didn’t want to make the date too far away or else the stress and anxiety would make him cave. Plus, he was kind of worried Psyche would die from the apprehension. His brother had never been the most patient individual. 

So, after a moment of thought, he began typing.

H: When would be the most convenient time and date for you?

D: So fast, Hibiya-san! 

Hibiya groaned. He should’ve waited. Before he even had the time to type out a caustic reply, Delic was already sending him three new messages. How were he and Psyche so fast at typing.

D: And so formal too. I feel like I am talking to a coworker or something.

D: But any day is fine with me besides Saturdays, as Psyche and I usually practice or do something then. We usually like to tend to business on Thursdays, but that is done and over with pretty early. 

D: So whenever is fine with you. I don’t know your teaching schedule.

Hibiya thought about it. He was not nearly as busy as some of his other colleagues. He was still busy of course, but he eased the load on himself somewhat by not assigning daily homework that he diligently had to grade with a TA or anything. His teaching program consisted of two essays and four tests. He had already gotten essays graded recently, which bought him quite a lot of time before he had to grade and the next test was half computer-based. His office hours were only open in the morning. Hm. So he was pretty open. Tuesdays and Thursdays were always busier though. He had to deal with six classes those days. Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, it was.

Today was Sunday… so if he scheduled it on Monday, he would look like he was overly-eager, seeing as Delic was clearly paying attention to details like that. But Friday seemed inconvenient. If he was going to go out, he planned to stay a little later and he didn’t want to exhaust Delic before an important meeting. But then again, did Delic ever get tired? He and Psyche seemed like they were constantly full of energy. 

Maybe he would discuss it with him during their date. But to play it safe, he would say Wednesday.

H: Is Wednesday night at 18:00 p.m. alright with you?

D: I am down! 

D: <3 

Hibiya didn’t even know how to respond to that heart. He also didn’t like that it made his heart speed up either. What was he, a teenager? He quickly turned his phone off and put it on the charger, sighing as he prepared a shower, to help clear his thoughts. But he found his thoughts were anything but clear as he stayed under the hot spray of the shower. Instead, the only coherent thought in his mind was: ‘I just set up a date with Delic. I just set up a date with Delic. I just set up a date with Delic.’

He couldn’t tell if what he was feeling was fear or excitement.

He thought the thoughts would stop as he continued his day. But no, they didn’t. 

* * *

Wednesday approached before he even knew it, and by now, Hibiya was practically buzzing with excitement. Throughout his day at classes, as he taught groups of students about the Russian Revolution, he couldn’t help but think how much more interested they would look at him if he had let it drop that he was dating one of the celebrities they adored. But he was a professional, and kept to his lesson plan.

Usually, he hung around after his work for the day was done, to chat with his colleagues or to perhaps answer emails. But today, he didn’t even bother. He had hurried out the building as fast as he could to go back to his apartment and get ready for his date. 

After he took a shower and got himself ready, trying on different outfits (he wanted to be nicely-dressed, but he didn’t want to overkill it with like a suit and tie or anything), he realized he received two texts while he had been preparing. 

One was from Psyche, saying: ‘Good luck on date night!’ 

Obviously, Delic had shared all the details with Psyche. Could these two keep anything private? He was going to answer his own question: No. No they couldn’t. 

He was not even going to reply to Psyche. Glancing at the next message, he saw it was from Delic.

D: Tonight is the big night…

That sounded borderline ominous, but with how much Hibiya’s nerves were being set off, he wouldn’t be surprised if he was just making things worse. His heart was pounding like he was a scared rabbit and he still had an hour before Delic showed up. 

Thankfully, such anxiety couldn’t be shown in text so long as he worded it right.

H: It indeed is. 

Then, he realized something.

H: Wait, where are we even going?

They hadn’t discussed this in the text messages before, he realized, feeling idiotic. What if Delic had been planning on taking him to a fast food joint or something? That didn’t seem like Delic’s style, but if that was the case then Hibiya was entirely over-dressed and getting worked up for nothing.

D: It’s a surprise. 

D: I promise you’ll like it!

Hibiya glanced at the messages in annoyance. Well, that hadn’t cleared anything up. Oh well. He supposed looking nice, no matter where they went, was not as bad as being underdressed so he would just deal with it.

H: Okay. 

Delic: Will pick you up in a cab! 

Hibiya swallowed and sent back an affirmation, mentally trying to calm himself. This was it. It was finally happening. 

His first date with Delic. 

* * *

Hibiya stepped into the cab and primly sat next to Delic, trying to keep his face somewhat neutral, despite the nervous flutter of his heart. He found his eyes roaming Delic’s body, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that Delic was also keeping his outfit choice nice-looking, but casual as well. Hibiya had no doubt the white jacket Delic was wearing, and probably half of his other clothes probably cost enough to cover ten of his paychecks, but still.

Though, he was pretty sure it was impossible for Delic to ever look bad. The blond could’ve shown up in a garbage bag, wearing a piece of moldy pizza as hat and he would still somehow be able to carry his masculine, good looks. 

Granted, Hibiya would be caught off-balanced and probably a little mad if Delic showed up looking like that, but that was besides the point. 

Hoping his voice was casual, he nodded to the blond Adonis sitting next to him and said, “Greetings, Delic.”

Delic whistled lowly and Hibiya could practically feel his eyes crawling over his body, as he said, “You’re looking good, Hibiya-kun.”

Hibiya felt himself blushing a bit. He was somewhat happy that his outfit did indeed seem to impress Delic, even though he was getting the impression somewhat Delic was imagining a scenario where he could strip Hibiya of these very clothes. At least the blond was smart enough to keep such comments to himself. For now, anyway…

Deciding to test the water, he nodded once more and said, “You look nice as well.”

Delic threw him a sideways grin to show thanks. Then he spoke some directions to the driver and they were off. 

The two of them idly chattered about how they spent their week. Hibiya highly doubted Delic would care about what he did as a professor, seeing as Delic’s job was considerably more exciting than his, but Delic seemed to take it with grace. However, Delic did try to dig for juicier details - asking if he had any students who drove him absolutely nuts or if he hated any of his colleagues or if he had ever caught any kind of scandal there. Hibiya gave what details he could. 

Delic eventually recounted what he and Psyche had been doing since their last concert. Apparently they were already planning their next tour, the two of them already plotting down what songs to repeat and what songs they wanted to make. Delic sounded eager enough about it. Hibiya felt tempted to point out that they had just finished another tour not too long ago, but held it back, figuring that once Delic and Psyche had their minds set on something, they would do it. 

Once again… where did they get this energy? Couldn’t they spare a little to him? He could barely get through his classes most days without being drained. 

When they eventually arrived at the restaurant, Hibiya recognized they were in Shinjuku. He wondered for a moment if Delic had dragged him to another party. Shinjuku was known to have a rather active party district after all and he knew from their social media accounts that Psyche and Delic were big partiers. However, as he stepped out and looked at the building he was in front of, he saw that it was a nice restaurant with showy neon signs. 

It promised to be nice and fun and full of high-quality food, but not so high-quality that Hibiya’s wallet would be sobbing from the dent it created.

This worked for him.

He waited for Delic to finish paying the cab driver and only started walking once Delic was close to him. There was a small line gathered out the restaurant so they had to wait a bit. Delic apologized profusely for this, but Hibiya didn’t mind. If anything, it implied how good this establishment actually was if it was this full on a Wednesday night. 

However, the line did put him in a dilemma. A line meant that they would have to stand around. A line meant that in order to pass time, they would have to converse with one another. Conversing with one another meant he had to come up with something to talk about. But what? He doubted Delic cared any about anything academic, so he couldn’t talk history to him like he could his colleagues.

No, he needed to be more like Psyche. Or, a more excited, refined Psyche, anyway. 

He struggled to think of a conversation Delic and Psyche had with each other, but it was hard to think of a subject that was relevant. Psyche and Delic seemed to naturally click with one another. They could talk about seemingly any innocuous topic and turn it into a whole conversation, full of jokes and funny anecdotes and more. Hibiya couldn’t boast the same. He wasn’t that spontaneous. He wasn’t a naturally funny person. The best he had in his arsenal was some dry humor, but most of the time that came out unintentionally.

As he tried to figure out how he wanted to approach this, he practically jerked when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder. Once he recognized the arm, he forced himself to relax a little. Hibiya was a little iffy about people touching him, but he knew from experience Delic and Psyche both were touchy-feely people, and now that he had agreed to be Delic’s date, he was probably going to have to deal with a little physical contact. 

Delic leaned forward to him, nearly stealing Hibiya’s breath away as he said, “What are you so nervous about? Normally, I can get you at least ranting a little, but now you’re all clammed up. What is up with that?”

Hibiya didn’t know how to respond. However, he would be damned if he stammered. He thanked every deity he could think of that he took that public speaking class that had forcibly knocked the speaking anxiety out of him, even when put into nerve-wracking situations like this.

“I… I don’t know. I’ve been trying to think of something to say, but nothing seems to work.”

“Well that is the problem!” Delic said, removing himself from Delic’s person. “You’re thinking too hard about it! Just tell what you want! I mean, you’ve done that before!”

When Hibiya just regarded him skeptically, he rolled his eyes and said, “Hibiya, if I found you more boring than a husk of corn, do you think I would’ve asked you in the first place. If you really somehow manage to bore me, I would just change the subject.”

Hibiya sighed, figuring Delic would wait until he started, so he decided to go casual, asking, “So, what made you decide to go to this place? Do you go here often?”

There. That seemed safe enough and simple. A good icebreaker. Better than talking about the weather.

“Oh yeah, Psyche and I go here quite a bit. It’s fun and full of activity and its at least a base level loud that some of our conversations aren’t broadcasted to the whole world…”

Hibiya shook his head. It didn’t take much imagination to think of what Delic and Psyche wanted hidden, given how shameless they both were. Psyche may be better than Delic, but not by much. 

“Please say we will not have any conversations of that like while we are here,” Hibiya groaned.

Delic paused before saying, “I’ll try my best, but no promises.”

Well, he supposed that was the best he could hope for. 

“You’re impossible,” Hibiya sighed though, just feeling the need to say something. Delic gave him a sheepish grin. 

Hibiya realized something, “Wait, if you go here often, won’t the employees be suspicious if they see you with me?” He was already horrified at the idea of his face being plastered all over magazines.

Delic didn’t seem to concerned. Shrugging, he said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ve brought dozens of people here before. Managers, Psyche, secretaries, actual hookups, and no leaks ever came out about any of them. In fact, I am pretty sure most of them will assume you’re Psyche.”

Hibiya felt a flare of defensiveness shoot through him, causing him to bristle. Crossing his arms, he huffed, “Psyche and I do not look _that_ similar!” 

He scowled even harder when he saw Delic’s skeptical look.

All of his life, Psyche and Hibiya had been plagued with people mistaking them to be the other one, or at least, they had been, until Psyche had boosted massively in popularity. Sure, he and Psyche looked vaguely similar. They had black hair and maybe similar body types and facial structure, but they still looked quite a bit different in both of their opinions. Psyche always seemed the more happy, jovial one, in comparison to Hibiya’s more serious air. He also knew that Psyche was shorter than him by an inch or two. Psyche had pink eyes, while Hibiya had golden ones. Their dress styles were almost always different - Psyche’s being more flamboyant and Hibiya’s being more reserved. 

Hibiya and Psyche always thought that there differences were painfully obvious and that they didn’t look incredibly like each other, but that didn’t seem to be the case to others. 

To this day, when he wandered around on campus, some student who was not in the History department would come running towards him, excitedly asking for his autograph. He had to admit, he got a certain petty pleasure out of actually giving them his autograph so he could watch the confusion on their face before they would begin to apologize.

Similar incidents could happen when he was in the grocery store or out eating somewhere.

He thought though that Delic of all people would be sympathetic to his and Psyche’s plight, but apparently not with that comment. 

Deciding that he had to refute somehow, he said, “I find it funny that you think Psyche and I look so similar and yet you get offended when we suggest that you and Tsugaru look similar.”

Now Delic was huffing. “Because that one is simply untrue. We look nothing alike.”

“Delic, one of your crazy exes tried to stab Tsugaru with a fork because she thought he was you.”

Delic seemed to wince at the memory. “Urgh, don’t remind me of her. Tsugaru wouldn’t talk to me for like three weeks after that incident. But like you said, she was crazy. Crazy people don’t make such distinctions.”

“Ones hellbent on revenge, probably do.”

They continued to argue about the logistics of them looking similar to others when suddenly, they realized they were now in the front of the line. The waiter looked at them worriedly, like they might start duking it out in the middle of the street, even though at best, they were just bantering. Still, now a bit more socially aware, the two of them quit their bickering and Delic with a smile said, “We’ll settle it in there.”

* * *

That wound up being wrong. The minute they got seated and comfortable, the argument had long since been forgotten. But maybe part of that was because Hibiya was too busy worrying himself sick. He didn’t know how this was to be dealt. What was he supposed to order? He didn’t want to go too expensive but he also did not want to order something that would make Delic wonder why they even came to this place. 

But wait… was Delic even paying? Was that presumptuous of him to think? He had brought his wallet just in case. But if they were splitting this, was it half and half? Or did Delic want him to pay for his meal only? Would Delic get offended if he asked?

Was he just overthinking this? 

God, this showed how inexperienced he was. He was probably looking constipated or something with how much he was worrying, while Delic was idly chatting with the waiter who sat them down, the two clearly acquainted with one another. After what Delic had suggested outside, Hibiya was actually glad the waiter hadn’t said anything to him yet rather than presume he was Psyche. That might be a good sign. 

Slyly, while Delic was still distracted, he slyly pulled out his phone and texted Psyche underneath the table. Time was of the essence, so he typed probably the fastest he ever had in his life, not bothering to check for grammar or anything. 

Thankfully, Psyche was a reliable texter.

P: Just relax, H-san!

P: Dates are supposed to be fun, y’know?

P: Also Delic better pay the bill. If he can afford three cars, he can pay for the meal. 

Fair enough. Hibiya tried to relax his muscles, when suddenly, Psyche sent him another unexpected text.

P: Delic is your friend first and foremost. Instead of thinking him purely as a date, perhaps think of it as just a casual lunch we have together sometimes.  
Hibiya had to admit, it was good advice. They were just testing the waters right now. Delic was not going to change drastically after one date. If he felt uncomfortable, he could end this before it was too late. For now, he just needed to relax.

And he knew there was one fast way to assure he would get relaxed quick. He grimaced, he didn’t like doing this, but duty called. 

So the minute Delic’s attention returned back to him, he asked, “Do they have any good drinks, here?”

Delic looked surprised, “Thought you said you didn’t drink.”

Hibiya tried to sound natural as he shrugged and said, “I am willing to make an exception for tonight.”

* * *

Urgh. 

He didn’t know how people could drink alcohol. He had chosen the sweetest, fruitiest thing he could find on the menu and he still felt like he was drinking gasoline. Gasoline with a strawberry-mango twist, but still. However, as he continually forced himself to sip more and more of it, he had to admit, the effects of it were beginning to work more and more. He wasn’t at least shaking with anxiety and he could actually hold a conversation. 

It was also making him a little more loose of tongue. Braver. 

“I always thought if you were to be interested in anyone in my family, it would be Psyche,” he confessed. “Actually, sometimes, I am still surprised that you and him haven’t at the very least dated.”

“What?”

Hibiya shrugged, “I guess since I saw you flirting with everyone and everything, I figured Psyche would come eventually. He is handsome himself, and has a fun personality. Plus, I mean, you guys did start a band together and everything and-”

“No, Hibiya-san, Psyche and I have dated.”

“...What?” 

“Okay, it was like, for three days in high school, so like barely but yeah-” Delic started off.

That little rat. How much did he hide from Hibiya all the time? For all he knew, Psyche could have a whole crime ring and Hibiya would be none the wiser- 

Delic grinned at him teasingly and said, “What are you jealous?”

Hibiya flushed immediately, “No! But god, why didn’t you guys tell me? Heck why did you keep the fact that you were attracted to _me_ secret? You’re clearly shameless about everything else!”

Delic continued to grin like the absolute fool he was. “I think someone is jealous!” he sing-songed, causing Hibiya’s eye to twitch. 

“Just answer the question, idiot…” Hibiya grumbled, taking another sip of his drink and doing his best not to grimace. He seemed to have fooled Delic into thinking he could handle alcohol well enough up to this point.

Delic shrugged, “It just felt too weird. All we did during those three days was hang out like we always did. We would try to be romantic, but all Psyche would do is laugh about it. Neither of us could take it too seriously. We were boyfriends in title alone, and nothing else. We were kind of wanting to shake off the awkwardness before we told you.”

Hibiya listened to this carefully. He knew he had asked about Delic dating Psyche but he was also insanely curious to find out more about why Delic hadn’t confessed his feelings back then. 

“In reference to why I didn’t ask you, well… first of all, I thought you would say no. I usually ask people I am confident with.” Delic explained. Hibiya nodded, finding that a fair enough point. He hadn’t exactly been the most warm person in the world, even back then. 

Then Delic shrugged, “And besides, I didn’t necessarily want to risk the friendships I had if we did date. Even now, I got to admit, I am somewhat nervous.” 

Hibiya found himself perking with interest at that. It was rare for Delic to show such vulnerability. Now even more curious, he said, “What is there to be nervous about?”

“What it would mean for our friendship and Psyche and I’s friendship,” Delic said, looking down at the table idly. “Everyone says beforehand that they will remain friends or stuff if they break up, because they think it makes them sound like a good person. But to be perfectly honest, no one can know how exactly they will react after a break up. Neither do I.”

Hibiya mulled this over in his mind a bit. He had never thought of any of this like that, having never really been part of the dating scene. He wondered if that was part of the reason Delic had never really dated people, only sticking to hookups and one night stands. Maybe the blond was afraid of getting attached and losing someone important to him. Hibiya could understand that kind of fear, to a degree. 

“So like, what if we broke up with one another and suddenly, it is just too awkward between us. Or one of us did something that the other couldn’t forgive?” Delic asked, “Then that is not only going to ruin our friendship, but it’s going to strain things between Psyche and I as well. If I hurt you, then Psyche is never going to forgive me naturally. But if we both just ended it kind of awkwardly, things are going to be strained for him as well. And Psyche is my best friend in the entire world. If I lost him… it would be hard admittedly. It probably would affect the existence of Psychedelic Dreams as well.”

Hibiya listened to all this, feeling vaguely uncomfortable, feeling somewhat guilty. He had been so lost in his own feelings of excitement and nervousness that he hadn’t even considered what Psyche would think of their relationship. Maybe he would have to talk to him at some point about it. He took another sip of his drink.

But as he continued to toss what Delic said around in his head, annoyance beginning to blossom within him.

“But that is thinking about it entirely too negatively,” Hibiya pointed out. “You were only thinking about scenarios of us failing instead of us succeeding.” 

“Yeah but-”

“If you are just going to be afraid to try because you think it will inevitably fail, then what is the point? That is only going to breed mistrust and unhappiness,” Hibiya said. He was stuck in a passionate rant now. This happened to him at times when he was teaching. Once he got started, it was hard to stop himself. “Listen, how do you think I felt before I came here? Of course I was nervous as well. Admittedly, part of it came from just your status and the fact that I am relatively new at this… but let’s also be real here when I say you haven’t had necessarily the best track record when it comes to being loyal to a partner.”

Delic gave a small, sheepish smile at the last point. Hibiya pointed at that and said, “Exactly. But I also was willing to give you a fair chance, because I want to believe you. I want to believe that you will try for me. That you want me.” He found himself blushing more and more as he said it, his words becoming more and more shaky as he continued on, but he pushed on. He was thankful for the alcohol, who he was attributing to his bravery. He highly doubted that, of a sober mind, he would open his heart like that. Emotions had always been Psyche’s forte, not his. 

Delic said, “Hibiya-san…”

Hibiya wasn’t quite finished yet. Leaning over the table, he grabbed Delic’s hand in his, he said, “Listen, it’s like you said, right? We have no idea how this will go and end. It might end badly, it might end neutrally… but it might turn out well. We might find we really like each other as more than just friends. But we’ll never find out will we, if we are too scared to try. That counts for both of us.”

Delic blinked at him in silence and Hibiya was afraid that he might have come on too strongly. That was pretty emotional for a first date speech after all. He had let his emotions get the best of him. He glared at his drink he was so thankful to earlier. Fucking alcohol…

But surprisingly, Delic gave him an encouraging smile. He grabbed Hibiya’s slender hand in his much larger one, causing Hibiya’s heart to race inadvertently. Not seeming to notice that Hibiya’s eyes were locked on their laced fingers, Delic said, “You know what, you’re right. Perhaps I have been seeing things the wrong way for too long.”

Hibiya nodded stiffly, as he felt Delic’s thumb absently stroke his knuckles, saying, “We both have.” 

Delic unlaced his fingers and said, “Perhaps, we can learn to change that?”

“Positivity, Delic-san, positivity,” Hibiya said, before he could stop himself. Jesus, this was the last time a drop of alcohol was ever dripping in his mouth ever. 

Delic, however, beamed, saying, “You’re right. We _will_ change that.” 

Hibiya found himself smiling a bit despite himself. 

Perhaps they could do this.

* * *

The rest of the dinner went smoothly. After that big emotional moment, things had returned to a sort of normal. Delic was annoying, Hibiya got annoyed, but it was all pleasant in a way. Banter had always been sort of the default in his life. He did it with Psyche. He did it with Delic. He could even get Hachimenroppi to do it if he could get the other man comfortable enough. He would pretend to be more annoyed than he was, but whenever he looked back on the moment, he would always feel a rush of fondness… and he could tell Psyche and Delic got a sort of thrill out of that.

By the time, he and Delic finished their meal and stumbled back to the cab, he was feeling drunk… not only on alcohol, but with happiness. He felt a small smile staying on his face for a while.

He even felt a flicker of disappointment when he saw the cab pull up to his apartment building. Huh, that was something he didn’t think he would feel. He normally felt a thrill of pleasure whenever he saw it approaching. 

However, after he said his goodbyes to Delic and was about to leave, he felt Delic snag one of his hands. When Hibiya had looked back at him curiously, Delic had thrown him a smile and said, “May I accompany you to your door at least?”

Hibiya hadn’t even really hesitated in saying no.

When they reached his doorway, Delic suddenly slid his hands on Hibiya’s hips and slyly had asked, “You willing to at least kiss on the first date?”

Hibiya had almost considered saying no, after Delic tacked on an immature, “Or are you going to yowl at me like you did in the bar if I do?” but he decided to nod instead.

Surprisingly, Delic had kept it chaste and had left… but the feeling of Delic’s lips on his lingered, making a warm feeling stay in his chest. He felt like the warm feeling would disappear as he got ready to retire for bed, but instead, the feeling lingered with him all the way to bed.

As the feeling continued to make him light and happy, he thought back to his words from the restaurant.

Yes. Perhaps they could make this work.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is actually a giant rewrite of an old smut of mine with these two. The old fic is kind of ... gross in some parts but overall, I am actually impressed by Old Me as far as the writing goes. But I wanted to rework it and make it an actual story. So there is this. In the original, Hibiya and Delic basically go out of the way and actually have sex, but damn it, I am giving this some build up. 
> 
> This is also inspired because back in the day, I had wanted to write (I still kind of want to write) a series of loosely connected stories with all the Shizaya alternates. As you can see, I took a few liberties with their characterizations, namely Hibiya and Psyche. Psyche, I changed up because people tend to write him like a five year old rather than a grown man and that was always a trend that kind of annoyed me. And Hibiya because I wanted this to take place in current Durarara! universe, so I couldn't actually imagine a legitimate prince, so hence why he is the way he is. Hope these changes are okay with y'all!
> 
> I don't know if this fic will be 2 or 3 chapters. Depends on how it turns out. This was going to be one giant one-shot, but it was getting kind of long so I decided to break it up. We will see what the future holds. 
> 
> As always, critique is wanted and if you see a mistake, feel free to point it out. With a project this big, I have no doubt in my mind I messed something up. 
> 
> Also title is crap, so if you can think of a better one, I'd love to hear it!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


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